Bumpers and bird wings

After Doc shredded a rug and floor runner, I decided he was trying to tell us something, so I took everyone out in the pasture to stretch their legs and get in a little training. With the Labs it was bumpers in the pond and with the Spins, bird wings in the grass, although Doc really wanted into the pond but couldn’t get up the courage. It was just basic stuff, simple retrieves for the Labs and a waist cord for the Spins.

Dakota catches air while Sophie looks on, 5-11-13

Dakota hitting the water, 5-11-13

Dakota making a splash, 5-11-13

At 10 1/2 years old, Sophie can still catch a little air, 5-11-13.

Sophie hits the water with a little splash, 5-11-13.

Doc intensely on point, 5-11-13

Doc pointing a bird wing, 5-11-13

Doc ready to pounce on the bird wing, 5-11-13.

Elvis on point with his tongue out, the temperature was 80 degrees, 5-11-13

Elvis on point, 5-11-13

Mia on point, 5-11-13.

Mia on point, she’s lost some of her steadiness during hunting season, 5-11-13.

Fun with a stink bug

While I sitting out on the patio with the guys, Sophie and Elvis found a stink bug. By the time I began recording it on my cell phone, they’d had enough and didn’t want any more to do with it. As for Doc and Mia, they did a bit more investigating.

First swim of the year

Dakota retrieves, 5-3-13

Sophie retrieves, 5-3-13

Yesterday was such a nice and sunny day that I took the guys for their first swim of the year and introduce Doc to water for the first time. I made two trips, the first with the Labs and the second trip with the Spins; Dakota was so excited that she cried all the way out for her first retrieve. Doc’s a little a fish when it comes to water and just about dragged me into the water in his attempt to investigate the big orange buoys that marked the swimming area.

Mia heading out to retrieve a piece of driftwood, 5-3-13

Mia, Elvis and Doc, 5-3-13

Doc took to the water like a fish, 5-3-13

Mia made a couple of retrieves with a piece of driftwood, but I didn’t give Elvis a chance to retrieve. Doc had enough of watching retrieves, and when I tossed the driftwood for Elvis, Doc lunged, ripped the leash out of my hand, hit the water and went under, then paddled back to shore. I didn’t want that to frighten him of water so we returned to the truck where I crated Mia and Elvis, then let Doc retrieve a bumper several times. I actually thought he was going to swim in his first introduction to the water, but no, chest-deep is as far as he’d go.

Checking things out.

Doc makes his first water retrieve with a bumper, 5-3-13

Doc’s proud of his second retrieve, 5-3-13

This and that photos

We worked on tracking the other day and I was able to get some good video of our sessions – unfortunately the camcorder decided to kick the bucket so I don’t know when we’ll be able to retrieve the video. In place of the training video, I’ve substituted some photos that I took over the weekend.

The guys salute our son-in-law, who just joined the National Guard.

My 3 sons (some of them, anyway). Left to right: Spumante, Doc, mom Onda, and Elvis enjoying home on the range.

Elvis, Doc and Mia enjoy the morning.

A goose and pair of ducks drop in on our pasture.

Too close for comfort.

Therapy work

Both Sophie and Elvis seem to have really settled into their therapy work as the newness has worn off they’re now becoming routine. Both are now doing very well walking on polished cement floors, and tile floors are a concern to them only if they’ve recently been waxed. Elvis’ visits yesterday went a little long as everyone seemed to be in a talkative mood, but he patiently tolerated and was rewarded with chicken strips.

Elvis ready to start his visits.

Since Elvis needed a shower before making his visits, I thought it would be a good time to give Doc his first shower. Once I got his front feet into the tub he climbed right in, I let him check out the shower head to his satisfaction, and he cooperated throughout.

Doc giving me the eye after his first bath.

Training, obedience, and burning

Working with Doc on tracking. That boy’s a real scent hound.

With temperatures dipping into the teens at night and water temperatures still in the 40’s, it’s still too early to begin Doc on water training. We’ve also burnt the pasture so I’m keeping the guys out of it, not wanting them to track ashes throughout the house. That leaves back yard training on obedience, steadiness and tracking.

Working with the guys on the “stay” command.

I let the guys have one last run in the pasture before we burnt it, and Mia decided to not only go deaf but also led Doc on a merry run through the neighbor’s fields. After chasing them down and returning to the pasture, we spent some time on obedience – particularly Mia – which restored her hearing and sharpened her attention. Since Doc was only following Mia’s lead, he was off the hook.

Released from “stay”!

I worked with the guys on tracking in the back yard, using pieces of hot dogs. One of the suggested methods of introducing them to tracking is to break a hot dog into pieces, grind the first piece into the ground with your foot, which gets scent on your shoe, then walk a few feet dropping bits of hot dog along the way leaving a large piece of hot dog as the last piece. After working with them on tracking, I broke up the remaining hot dogs and scattered them around, then let the guys out for a free-for-all. Doing this adds an element of competition to searching and use of nose, which hones their skills and drive.

The “ditcher” cleaning out the ditch.

After burning the ditch bank, the ditcher comes through to clean it out. Without the ditcher, dirt would eventually fill in the ditch.

Once the ditch banks were burnt, the pasture was next.

New flooring

We had new flooring put in and the guys not only inspected the new floor but helped unpack my new tool chest.

Mia and Doc help break down Styrofoam packing while I wasn’t looking.

Elvis, Doc and Dakota enjoy the room without furniture

Mia, Elettra and Sophie sit in anticipation.

Training 3-23-13

Doc is intimidated no more. Until today he’s been cautious with live birds but a natural at retrieving the dead ones, and Saturday that all changed. He was on them big time, which is what my trainer and I have been hoping and waiting to see. When you see dogs improve from one training session to another like this, it’s clear that the real learning takes place between sessions as they process their training.

Doc has shown himself to be rather steady on point and his drive is getting up to where it should be, so it’ll just be a matter of refining his natural talents. Mia is generally steady on point – she didn’t fail any tests in earning her Jr. Hunt title, however her honoring needs a lot of work. With Mia I’m also going to have to go back and steady her up a bit on pointing so that she’s more consistent with it.

Doc roughed up the birds a little so I put them back in the loft and worked with him and Mia sans birds on “whoa” and honoring. As they ran about the pasture, they’d separate from time to time and when that happened, I’d “whoa” Doc and then wait for Mia to see him and “whoa” her as well. It didn’t take long before she began catching on.

Working with Mia to honor Doc, who has stopped with the “whoa” command. 3-23-13

Sophie and Elettra were next and although I’ve never worked with the Labs on honoring, Sophie did a great job of honoring Elettra’s point. Elettra went on point at a pile of feathers from a dove that had somehow met its demise and I “whoa’d” Sophie who promptly dropped her butt on the ground to wait. It’s too bad her hunting days are over.

Elettra went on point and Sophie honored it, 3-23-13

Elvis and Dakota were last, and that half-hour run in the pasture really aggravated Dakota’s ankle. She began limping a couple of days ago, but that little run in the pasture really hurt her. I gave her an aspirin and some alfalfa pills which helped and by Saturday evening was still limping, but nothing like she had been.

On Friday, Sophie and I went on our therapy visits and she showed a big improvement when it came to walking on cement floors. Perhaps tiling our kitchen floor had something to do with it, but whatever the reason, she did a great job.

A wedding and a hunt test

Ashley and Chase wedding ceremony, 3-15-13.

St. Patrick’s Day weekend began with our youngest daughter getting married, and was also a double-double hunt test weekend. Before wedding plans were made, I’d entered Mia in Senior and Elettra in Junior hunt tests sponsored by the Idaho Brittany Club and German Shorthair Pointer Club of Idaho so it was a busy weekend. While Saturday was sunny and nearly 60 degrees, Sunday was in the 40s with a good 30 mph wind blowing across the ridges and the ground scattered with snow pellets from the night before.

Elettra with her ribbon, 3-17-13.

Elettra did well on Saturday but received low test scores – maybe the heat was getting to her in spite of watering her down at the water troughs. She found two birds, was rock solid on point for a good 45 seconds to a minute while I approached and flushed, and was solidly steady-to-wing-and-shot. Still, she barely passed her nose and pointing categories with 6’s.

The hilltop was the starting location for GSPCI tests. The hill was deceptively steep, and the back course covered several ridges..

Sunday’s test was much the same but with different results. She pointed two birds up on a ridge, but they weren’t flying due to the heavy wind. I had to chase the first bird to get it to flush, and Elettra was steady through most of the chase. Not long after that she hit on another bird about 150 yards out and reflecting on it, I must have looked kind of silly running across the hillside with my revolver (starter pistol) drawn and ready to shoot. Elettra held a steady point until I was nearly to her, then her brace mate, a pup taking her first test, dashed in and broke on the bird giving chase. Elettra broke and joined in the chase until the bird flushed and I got my shot off. Still, she held both of her points well in spite of the distractions and was credited for them.

Looking down on the camp area. The distant sage covered ridge was the site of the Brittany club’s test area and Elettra’s first test.

Mia did about as well as I had expected, given that I haven’t really spent time working with her on honoring. In her first test, Mia was disqualified before we even got to the bird field by not honoring her brace mate’s point. It turned out that there was no bird, but still she didn’t honor the point and was duly disqualified. I had a choice of heading back to camp or leashing her and following, so I opted for the latter so that I could check out the bird field and get an idea on how to run my dogs.

On Sunday she at least made it to the bird field, and came on two partridge but failed to point either. Both birds were out in the open and on the first bird, Mia came around a bush to find herself face-to-face with it; the bird immediately began running and Mia gave chase so that was the end of that. As for the second bird, it was walking around out in the open when she came on it, and she responded by giving a short unsteady point. She reset herself a couple of times before giving up and walking back to me with that “what do I do now?” look. No point.

It seemed like few dogs were cooperating that weekend, especially Senior dogs. Dogs that I’ve known to be perfectly solid during training and hunting were breaking and chasing birds from one end of the field to the other. Dogs that were staunch at backing were simply ignoring their brace mates on point. It was a rough weekend for everyone and I was disappointed in those owners who gave their dogs some heavy handed discipline. But pass or fail, I was proud of my guys for their effort and told them so.

Hard running Spins

Friday afternoon meant another session with my trainer, and another reason I don’t put a whole lot of weight on individual training sessions. Dogs just like people have off days, and have days when they’re in the zone. That’s where Mia was Friday. The week before I couldn’t get her to do much of anything but this time out she was she was running hard, on point, and doing a terrific job of retrieving.

Elettra was her steady old self – running hard, searching well, and doing a decent job of pointing although I’d liked her to have been more steady. However one thing I found out with my Spins is that they don’t take pigeons as seriously as game birds, so she’ll do well on partridge or quail.

As for Doc, my trainer just wanted him on birds; rather than working with his pointing, we let him chase, catch and play with the pigeons. He’s still a little intimidated by the live ones but he’s solid on point and give him a dead bird, he’ll retrieve it like nobody’s business. What we’re doing now is just building his confidence with live birds.

We took a few pictures of the guys training which I’ll be posting once I get them back and downloaded, so stay tuned.